Fury as egg donation licence thrown open in UK first

A fertility regulator has amended a donor licence allowing women to donate their eggs to stem-cell research even if they are not receiving fertility treatment.

But they have been strongly criticised for making the decision while a public consultation is still underway.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) gave the go-ahead to The Centre for Life in Newcastle in November.

Dr Stephen Minger, a stem cell scientist from King's College London, said he was "flabbergasted" that the licence was granted before the consultation process was completed.

"It seems very improper. It begs the question - what is the point in having a consultation?" he told the BBC.

UK first

Prior to November, the Newcastle centre had a licence to take eggs from women undergoing sterilisation, as well as "failed to fertilise" eggs from women undergoing IVF treatment.

Earlier this year, the licence was amended to allow women undergoing fertility treatment to "share" their fresh eggs, giving some to research.

It was amended again on November 1, allowing for 'altruistic' egg donation from women not undergoing any treatment. The HFEA said it is the first time it has allowed a centre to amend its licence in this way.

The regulator today defended its decision, saying that it had a duty to deal with the Newcastle centre's application, which was made several months before the consultation began. It said the decision to grant the licence does not affect the outcome of the consultation.

The amendment will be reviewed if the resulting policy, due in February, does not favour altruistic egg donation.

The HFEA released a statement which said: "The recent decision to allow one centre to carry out altruistic egg donation for research will not affect the outcome of the consultation.

"The centre agreed to provide the HFEA with regular information on their work in the meantime to inform our decision making."

The HFEA is a statutory body which licenses and checks UK clinics that offer IVF and DI (donor insemination) treatments, and all UK-based research into human embryos, and regulates the storage of eggs, sperm and embryos.